To Love a Monster
by 10degrees
Summary: What if the Lorax came in a more... Feminine form? What if she was human? Would she and the Once-Ler ever learn to like each other? LOVE each other?
1. Chapter 1

Charlotte jerked awake and her eyes flew open. The rapid rise and fall of her chest grew stronger as she lay in bed, imagining the prowling fear-inducing creatures that could have woken her. She jumped again when the sound, the one that had _actually_ woken her, tore through the early morning.

For a moment, she was paralyzed. A wall had been built around the familiarity of the noise in her head, but she had heard it before. It sounded again, and as if that was enough to physically break through the wall in her memory, she gasped a single word in recognition of the situation. "Trees."

In a matter of seconds, the 19 year old was on her feet, the entire world forgotten. With long, graceful strides that only a girl her size could pull off speedily, she fled her home in the direction of the forest. The noise came again, cutting into Charlotte's heart like the ax producing it. With every sickening pound of the weapon on the tree, she picked up her speed until she was sprinting, her waist-length silky black hair flailing madly behind her. She was getting closer, but she knew there was not much time to spare.

The girl's slim figure crashed through the trees emanating both fear in the way her delicate hands shook slightly, and courage in the way she walked, barefoot, toward a man she had never seen before. Her electric blue eyes assessed the scene quickly. The man, who had not taken notice of her as of yet, held a once silver ax now spotted red with rust. In an ignorant manner, he swung it back with both hands, ready to strike the tree once more.

"Stop it!" Charlotte shrieked as he swung forward. The man hardly had enough time to spit out a twisted word of confusion before she had tackled him to the ground. Although old, the ax's blade was sharp, and sliced her arm open as they tumbled over each other. She hissed in pain, feeling a red curtain of warm blood slink from her arm. She only had time to glance at the wound before the two landed, her stradeling his waist. She cringed as the tree she had just tried so hard to save came crashing down.

"What do you think you're doing?" Charlotte glared at him and nodded toward the ax in his hand, now stained with a thin line of her blood. The man gazed up her, looking a little dazed.

"Well?" she asked irritably from atop him, her eyes piercing his.

"Wh-" was all that managed to escape the man's mouth before Charlotte cranked her hand back and cracked it against his face, leaving a bright red tint after it.

"I don't even care what you think! Just... Just get out of here!" she crossed her arms over her chest and sat up a little taller, ignoring the stinging pain in her arm.

The man could not help but hide his chuckle, even if he was a little annoyed, at the sight of her on top of him wearing nothing but an old t-shirt and a pair of booty-shorts obviously used for sleeping in. His suspicion that she had just come from her own bed was somewhat confirmed by her disheveled hair and bare feet lightly skimming his thigh.

"Who are you?" he asked ignoring her stare and order, not only because she was sitting on him, but also because he intended to fight for his right to stay.

Although this was a generic question, Charlotte looked surprised to hear it. "I am Charlotte; I speak for the trees," she replied, a little too triumphantly. When the man turned up a blank, clearly impatient expression, she cupped her hand over one ear as if listening to a secret. She nodded once, then dropped her hand and flicked her gaze back to him. "They say that if you don't leave, I'll kick your ass."

This time, the man could not keep himself from laughing. Charlotte's eyes narrowed and an angry growl rumbled from her throat. The man held up both of his hands in a surrendering manner. "I'm sorry!" he gasped between fits, "I just- you're so cute and little!"

"Cute!?" Charlotte's eyebrows shot up briefly. As the man recovered from his laughter, she gripped his forearm and applied pressure to his wrist, twisting it into an awkward angle.

"Ow, OW!" he cried out in pain and she cut back a bit, never removing her grip completely.

"Yeesh! What do you want from me?" he asked loudly, attempting to tear his arm away. Before Charlotte could say anything, he held up his free hand and silenced her. "Other than to leave, because that's not happening."

Without hesitation, she answered "I want you to leave the trees alone."

"I'm not doing that." Charlotte applied pressure to his wrist again and he gasped. "Alright! I won't cut anymore down!" He moved to sit up, but Charlotte squeezed his wrist enough that he stopped trying.

"Promise."

"Why-"

"Promise!" she looked at him pointedly. He rolled his eyes involuntarily, but raised his free hand.

"I, the Once-Ler, do solemnly 'promise' not to cut down another tree."

Looking completely satisfied, Charlotte flashed the first smile she had all morning, and hopped to her feet. After a millisecond of consideration, she extended a hand to the man. Graciously, he took it and she helped him to stand. As Once-Ler wiped the dirt off the back of his dark grey jeans, vest, and white blouse, Charlotte turned around and began walking back to her home in the forest.

"Wait!" he called after her, adjusting a blue-grey fedora over his black hair. "Where are you going?"

Charlotte did not bother to turn around as she answered, "be seeing you around, Beanpole."

As the girl strode into the mess of truffula trees, the Once-Ler watched in admiration. She had only been around for a few short minutes, but she had already changed his entire thneed operation. Without a doubt, harvesting tusks would be a slower process if he could not first cut down the trees. He shook his head, trying to forget her smile. After all, he had meant what he said. Charlotte was cute; in every sense of the word. If only that meant she wasn't going to be annoying. He thought if she could just stay out of his way, she would be perfect to get along with. Too bad it did not look like that was going to happen. Still, her words danced in his head. _Be seeing you around, Beanpole. _

Charlotte walked back to the log cabin she had grown up in in silence. It didn't take long for her to reach it; in fact, it occurred to her that she could probably yell insults from where her home stood to where the Once-Ler was, and he would old wood was rotting and split in many places. Mysterious plants from the unmaintained yard had started to grow in the moist cracks between logs.

She remembered once gardening in the yard with her grandmother. Now, passing by the weed-covered flower boxes, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She did not like to reminisce.

The old wooden door squeaked as Charlotte pushed it open. The dark greeted her from inside, forcing her to squint in search of matches. She grabbed them off an end table and slid the small package open, striking a stick against it. With a _crack,_ a single flame flared up, covering the room in shaky shadows. The room filled with the comforting scent of burning sulfur. The glow brightened as she held the match against a blackened candle wick and shook the fire out.

"I'm home!" she called, walking around the room lighting candles. Her weight caused the old floor boards to groan as she made her way around. If anybody was home, the sound alone would have alerted them of her presence. Charlotte bit her lip, taking a minute to accept that there was not anybody to call back to her.

Nobody to greet her with a hug when she came home.

Not even anybody to help her bandage up her still bleeding arm.

There hadn't been in years.


	2. Chapter 2

It was several days before the Once-Ler saw or heard from Charlotte again. He had spent a few manufacturing a single pink thneed from the tusks he'd harvested from the truffula tree, which he brought along for the 10 minute hike into town. His guitar hung on a strap over his shoulder as he set up a small advertising sign on the corner of a busy street. People buzzed by, nobody paying attention to him at all. With a deep breath, the Once-Ler strummed a single note on his guitar. Other than a few curious children gripping their parents hands, not a single head turned in his direction.

_Just like you practiced_, he thought to himself. Suddenly, a mix of anxiety and determination produced a wave of adrenaline. A smile crept to the man's face and he expertly began playing a song to advertise his thneed.

The day was a bust. After the rush of adrenaline that allowed him to perform, nothing changed. In fact, his shin was even a little worse for wear, thanks to a kid who decided she needed to help him embrace failure; not that HE thought he needed help at this point. As if this day couldn't get any worse, a man talking on a cellphone strode by, blowing smoke from his cigarette into the Once-Ler's face. He coughed on it, waving his hand around to try and disperse the lingering cloud. When he stopped choking, the man was too far down the street to pay attention to. That is, until he heard a familiar voice.

"Watch where you're blowing that poison, idiot. At this rate, you're killing us all with your air pollution faster than you're dying of lung cancer." The Once-Ler nearly face palmed at the sound of Charlotte's voice. Of course he was not the only one she chose to annoy! He whipped his head around until he spotted her, not too far from him down the road. The man with the cigarette had hung up his phone and was now approaching her. The Once-Ler clenched his teeth together and threw his guitar and thneed over his shoulder, now pushing passed people on the sidewalk to get to her.

"What did you say to me?" the man puffed out his chest and balled his hands into fists at his side. Un-phased, Charlotte took a step toward him and mirrored his actions, sticking her chin into the air.

"You heard me," she said courageously.

The Once-Ler finally reached the scene and cut between her and the man. "Settle down, guys," he said firmly.

"Beanpole? Get outta here!" Charlotte waved him away, but he stayed put and turned to the man.

"I'd listen to the lady, if I were you pal," the man said threateningly with his cigarette hanging from the side of his mouth.

"From what I've heard from this lady, I get the impression she's not alright up here," the Once-Ler said, tapping his temple. Charlotte started to protest, but stopped when he threw a glare over his shoulder. "Seriously. It's not her fault she's crazy."

Charlotte elbowed him in the back and he bit the inside of his cheek to keep from yelping. The man, oblivious to what had just happened, took a long drag from his smoke in concentration. He nodded and turned to leave, but did not do so until he blew the remaining smoke at the pair. When he was finally out of earshot, Charlotte shoved her savoir.

"I'm not crazy!" she shouted as he regained his balance and turned around.

"No, of course not. Only a sane person would run outside in only their pajamas and tackle a stranger-"

"-that was your fault."

"-and only someone sane would challenge a guy with a cigarette-"

"-you did that, too."

"-and of course, only someone glued to reality would try to hurt the one trying to help them-"

"-again, your fault. You called me crazy. See how this is all on you?" Charlotte clasped her hands behind her back and smiled sweetly. The Once-Ler pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger and closed his eyes.

"Alright. You're the sane one out of us both. You definitely would have made it out of that fight alive, had I not stepped in," he said sarcastically as his eyes flew open to look at her unchanging smile.

"Uh oh, somebody's had a bad day. You okay, Beanpole?" she asked, smile still unwavering. She rocked from her heals to her toes and back again, waiting for his answer. Still grasping his nose, he watched her rocking for a minute before sighing and collapsing on the bench behind her. Charlotte promptly sat beside him and crossed her legs at the ankles, gaze set on her feet. The Once-Ler took this opportunity to study her from a normal angle, instead of from underneath her.

She was young, probably a year or two younger than him, at least. Her long eyelashes framed her bright, round eyes and her pale skin made them stand out. The graceful slope of her tiny nose was like an invitation to her mouth. Although it was small, her lips were plump and admired by some sort of shiny gloss; the only trace of makeup he could spot on her.

The blue tank top she was wearing exposed only the slightest bit of cleavage, probably unintentional. By no means did she have a "large" chest, but it was certainly not non-existent. The shirt gathered in a bunch at her small tummy, and he wondered if she ever ate. The thought was short lived as his eyes traveled lower, to her denim shorts that were longer than the average pair, and even lower than that, to her legs. They were long. Nowhere near as long as his, of course, but not bad for a girl. He had the feeling there had been models who had actually killed for legs like that. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Charlotte look at him, and quickly met her gaze.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" she had lost her smile, probably as a result of being kept waiting.

"It's not a big deal, really," he shrugged and gave a light shake of his head. Charlotte raised an eyebrow at him.

"No, really!" he said, tugging the thneed off his shoulder, "It's just... Nobody's interested in my product."

Charlotte eyed up the thneed for a long time. She narrowed her eyes and hesitantly reached out to touch it. When the softness caressed her fingertip, her face dropped.

"You cut down a tree... To make_ that_?" she shifted her gaze from the thneed to him, and closed her mouth. As the Once-Ler glared, she felt the corners of her mouth twitch up until she was beaming at him. Finally, she couldn't contain herself any longer and began giggling uncontrollably.

The Once-Ler rested his head on his hand and waited for her to finish. He realized several minutes later that he had totally missed her change the subject of their conversation.

"Don't you think?" she finished her thought and looked to him for confirmation.

"Yes," he nodded. She smiled deviously and chuckled to herself. "Unless the answer is... No?"

Charlotte's shoulders shook lightly as her chuckling deepened. "I said, I could have taken that guy down. You agreed."

The Once-Ler smiled and opened his mouth to defend, but she shoved her finger in his face to keep him quiet. "You agreed, so it's done!" She leaped to her feet, backing away.

"I don't think-"

"-its done!" Charlotte exclaimed and ran before he could argue. The Once-Ler tried to follow her with his eyes, but she was quickly lost in the mess of people crowding the streets. He shook his head, a few silent chuckles shaking his shoulders.


End file.
